The 8 Best Casino Hotels in Las Vegas

One of the first mega hotels on the Vegas Strip isn’t here to blow you away with over-the-top gimmicks or superfluous glamour. The 3,044-room AAA Four Diamond resort has been one of the top hotels on Vegas since it was built by Steve Wynn in 1989, with a classy old-school Vegas vibe that remains lively without being overly annoying.

Famous for long hosting one of the top poker rooms in Vegas, The Mirage‘s 100,000 square feet of gaming space includes a massive sports book, equipped with 85-foot HD projection screens, and themed slots such as Iron Man and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. After wandering the casino floor to get a lay of the land, saddle up to the 25-table poker room and try your hand at seven-card stud or join in on the daily No Limit Texas Hold’Em tournaments.

Lodgings range from tastefully decorated standard rooms to absurd three-bedroom villas with 24-hour personal chefs and butler service. Check out the nightly volcano eruption shows outside the casino, before heading over to Tom Colicchio’s Heritage Steak for dinner and capping the night with a performance of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil. If you’re feeling adventurous, wander over to the adults-only Bare Pool Lounge for some “European-style sunbathing” and live DJs.

Inspired by the gorgeous Italian lakefront town of Bellagio and memorialized in the 2001 heist film Oceans Eleven, The Bellagio has long been synonymous with luxury in Las Vegas. However, it’s not just the world-famous fountains, the on-site art gallery or the hotel’s lush botanical gardens that make this hotel one of the top choices in Las Vegas.

The Bellagio’s sprawling 116,000 square feet of gaming space (roughly the size of two football fields) hosts one of the best gaming floors in Vegas, its sexy 40-table poker room a haven for pro players and World Poker Tour showdowns. You can also sip rare vintage Scotch while rolling the dice in the opulent Art Deco Club Prime high limit lounge, or pick out a winner amidst the hotel’s 2,300 slot machines.

Rooms are noted for their beauty and elegance, with accommodations ranging from simple yet luxurious hotel rooms to ultra-ritzy invite-only villas. When you’re done dominating the craps table like Danny Ocean, toast your winning with a fancy French feast at a table overlooking the fountains at the AAA Five Diamond Le Cirque. The next day, kick back at the Mediterranean-styled The Pool at the Bellagio Hotel for a more laid-back take on the typical Vegas pool party rager.

Perched near the base of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, about 10 minutes west of the Strip, the 5-star Red Rock Casino Resort is the most criminally overlooked of all Las Vegas casino hotels. Take a break from the endless noise of the Strip and get back to nature, overlooking stunning sandstone canyons and picturesque red-hued mountains from the comfort of your room.

Gamblers will find a more intimate environment for planning a date with lady luck. Instead of getting lost in a maze of massive gaming floors, Red Rock offers a more manageable layout of 20 poker tables and 16 blackjack tables, along with baccarat, craps, roulette, bingo and a chic VIP high limit table games lounge. With 2,700 slot machines and a 200-TV-strong sports book, the resort is also known by locals as one of the best hotels for slots and video poker in Vegas.

Accommodations include chic, modern hotel rooms and opulent Grand Villa Suites. Play some poolside blackjack at the Sandbar Pool, see some live music at the on-site Rocks Lounge, or carve into some USDA Prime steak at T-Bones Chophouse. There’s even a 72-lane bowling alley with “cosmic” bowling on weekends for those who want a little fun without having to suffer through another cookie-cutter, eardrum-bursting Vegas nightclub experience.

Together with the adjacent Wynn Las Vegas, Encore at Wynn is one of the largest and most opulent hotels in Vegas. Located on a quieter stretch of the Strip (north of most Vegas mega resorts) with all guests at the newer 2,034-room Encore given access to the full suite of amenities at the main 2,716-room Wynn, the combined resort claims the most five-star awards of any independent hotel in the world.

With an almost incomprehensible 263,000 square feet of gaming space between the two hotels, Encore’s gaming floor is a bit more laid-back and is home to the Wynn’s legendarily posh 28-table poker room. The hotel also boasts one of the widest varieties of table games and slots, in addition to a high limit gaming pavilion at its always-happening Encore Beach Club pool.

Rooms and suites are among the biggest on the Strip, unfurling excellent views of the skyline and mountains from as high as 48 stories. While the resort also includes its own shopping complex and 18-hole championship golf course, Encore’s most well known attraction is its massive 40,000-square foot XS Nightclub. Regarded as one of the world’s top clubs, it features a 10-foot rotating chandelier amidst an otherworldly assemblage of 10,000 lights set to pounding EDM music.

One of the oldest and most storied hotels in Las Vegas, The Golden Nugget has a long history as a casino oasis in the desert that is now America’s 28th-largest city. Opened in 1946, the 2,419-room 4-star hotel is located in the heart of downtown Las Vegas’ Fremont Street Experience district — a less frenetic yet still lively alternative to the Strip that’s rich in old-school Vegas charm.

Having won several “Best of Gaming” Awards from Casino Player Magazine, the Golden Nugget’s 38,000-square-foot casino features one of the most iconic poker rooms in Vegas, where gamblers can try to get in on the gold rush via 13 gold felt tables bathed under golden light. Additional table games, such as blackjack and craps, also feel a bit more welcoming to beginners, with free gaming lessons offered for newbies.

Accommodations include basic hotel rooms all the way up to the loft-style Spa Suite. In addition to 17 cabanas and a waterslide, the resort’s pool (known as The Tank) also features its very own 200,000-gallon shark tank. Swim alongside these fully enclosed gentle giants before counting your winnings at the dinner table at Vic & Anthony’s, one of America’s top steakhouses.

Together forming the second-largest hotel in the world, the 3,068-room Palazzo and the adjacent 4,040-room Venetian have long been a top destination on the Vegas Strip. With tasteful Italian Renaissance flair extending all the way up 52 floors in the tallest building in Nevada, it’s not hard to see why.

With 105,000 square feet of gambling space at the Palazzo, in addition to another 120,000 square feet at the Venetian, gamblers won’t have to travel far to get their fix. The Palazzo’s popular poker room features daily tournaments and is the home of regular stops along the DeepStack Extravaganza tour, while the resort boasts the most extensive selection of slots and video poker in town with 1,900 machines. High rollers can grab a seat at the 60-table high limit salon or try their luck with high-limit slots accepting wagers of up to $5,000 a spin.

The Palazzo is home of the largest standard accommodations on the Vegas Strip, with rooms almost twice the size of other hotels. Emeril Lagasse’s Delmonico Steakhouse is one of more than 30 restaurants on site, while the resort’s Tao Nightclub is a top spot for clubbing in Vegas. Maybe you’ll even spot a celebrity or two on the dance floor.

Perched at the southern edge of the Strip across from McCarran International Airport, Mandalay Bay is one of first sights many visitors will see when landing in Sin City. The 43-story, 3,209-room mega resort is an iconic image dotting the Vegas skyline, with a vibrant tropical theme that sets it apart from other similar resorts.

With a gargantuan 135,000 square feet of casino space, Mandalay Bay is known among avid gamblers for offering some of the best odds in Vegas. Try your hand striking it rich at one of the 1,200 slot machines, bet on the ponies at the man-cave-styled 17-TV-equipped sports book, or slide up to the table for daily poker tournaments with free lessons.

Open and airy rooms cultivate a breezy coastal vibe, with supremely comfortable beds and luxury suites operated by Four Seasons on the hotel’s upper floors. Guests can grab dinner from one of eight celebrity chef restaurants (including Michael Mina’s STRIPSTEAK), gawk at aquatic wildlife in the resort’s 1.3-million-gallon Shark Reef Aquarium (one of the largest in North America), catch live bands at House Blues, or kick back beside the lazy river and highly rated pools of Mandalay Beach.

At a certain point, you will need to get off the Strip – you will just need to. Whether it’s three days into your trip or the moment you land, Green Valley Ranch Resort is there when the time inevitably comes. Located about 20 minutes south of the Strip in suburban Henderson, this four-star European-styled resort is something of a mini-vacation within a vacation.

Gamblers will discover an extensive collection of more than 2,500 slot and video poker machines, in addition to a 30-screen-equipped sports book, 16 blackjack tables, four craps tables, two roulette wheels, and a small selection of Pai Gow Poker. Cultivating a more intimate and family-friendly vibe, the resort is known for some of the best full-pay video poker machines in the Vegas valley.

Accommodations vary from basic but serviceable hotel rooms to the luxurious Mediterranean Suite, with direct access to the resort’s backyard sand-bottom beach entry pool. Munch on artisan flatbreads at chef Tony Gemignani’s hip Pizza Rock before sipping an expertly crafted cocktail at the sexy Parisian-styled lounge Drop Bar and get to bed early. You’re gonna need all the rest you can get.